To those that have posted questions for me, I apologize that I've been bad about answering them! If you have questions that I haven't answered PLEASE POST THEM HERE UNDER COMMENTS! I am trying but often times I read the comments at home and aren't able to reply until I'm back at the Internet Club. Ok, so, here are the answers to the few that were related and asked over and over again...
How will you get the kids home? Do you have a stroller?
We have a 'sling' with us which is a Baby K'tan (www.babyktan.com) and we LOVE it, as does Micah. We will buy a stroller here for Emma since it will make life a LOT easier!
Is someone still meeting back up with you in Ukraine to help you home?
Yes, we think so! I keep forgetting to bring Becky's e-mail, but the plan is for her to meet up with me in Kiev and fly home with us. I'll be on my own with the babies just a few days and then she'll help us with the 3 flights to make it back to Titusville. If she cannot come then we will search out another willing soul or Mike will come back again.
What size clothes do the kids wear? Do you need clothes? Diapers? What else do you need?
Emma is right around a 24 months size, we think. We have a lot of this size since it's the next size up from Brianna. I think there are only 2 specific things we need in that size and it's shorts and pants. We have lots of little rompers, t-shirts, and dresses.
Micah is between a 3-6 and a 6-9 months size. I'm counting on a huge growth in him immediately so I'm not going to get any 3-6 months clothes. We have a few outfits that are 6-9 months that we've saved from Kristopher as well as a few 12 months. We don't have much that is any bigger than 12 months until the 4T that K is in now. We've given away those sizes to other families in the church. We didn't think we'd be having another BABY anytime soon!
Diapers- I'm guessing that Emma and Brianna are similar in size and a 3 will fit them both.! Micah is likely in a 2, but probably not for long! Soon all 3 will be in size 3 diapers- that will make life a little easier :)
Other stuff- We are SO BLESSED to have been given 2 cribs (Thank you Sandy and Bob!!). We have carseats for all the kids thanks to a friend of Cindy (THANK YOU!). We have a double stroller, playpen, toys, a swing, a bouncy seat, all kinds of good stuff for the kids to play with!
I think the only thing that we haven't dealt with before that we will be with the two new kiddos is bottles and formula. They should both be on "stage 2" or "older children" formula for kids over 9 months. And they both are solely bottle fed at the moment. Neither of our other two ever took a bottle so we don't have any of those yet.
Does Mike have a ticket home yet?
Yes, Mike has a flight home. He'll leave here at 6:50am on the 20th! He's flying Lufthansa. THANK YOU to our local FEDS of Brevard and to the donations to our Reece's Rainbow account which have together paid for all of our airline tickets and hotel/apartment stays!
To those that offerred toys for our "big girl" Sasha
Many people had offerred us "big girl" toys for Sasha before we left for Ukraine. We want to thank you all for your generous offers and I hope you will find another "big girl" that will benefit from these gifts!
We have tons of bottles you can have as well. Just have to track them down. We are also working on clothes. A is outgrowing 18 months now so we will be happy to pass those along as well as all the stuff he has previously outgrown. We will try to get it to your mom when I get a chance to go through it. Be Safe!
ReplyDeleteAngie and Bob
it was SO nice to talk to you this morning. Dont worry too much about the "stuff"...we can all handle that together. Be CAREFUL what you eat!! (We didnt get to explore that...um,,,mention, too fully...thats a good thing lol) Stay safe, miss ya, love ya, all that jazz. Yeah yeah.
ReplyDeleteStill reading along enjoying your journey--my prayers are with you all. Joy
ReplyDeleteThanks for the answers. Dad and I have passports but hope B. gets to come. I know how capable you are handling things with kids and know God is watching over you. We'll meet Mike or arrange with C and P to meet him. I bought some 2T and 3T for the girls and some long pants for 6-9. Fun fun fun. Can't wait for the models to arrive. Love, Mom
ReplyDeleteMeredith,
ReplyDeleteMary Stolz from RR here. We have been closely following along with all of your adventures. So glad to hear things are moving well, now. Have you had a chance to ask about Daniil/Joey's baptismal certificate and if they received the letter we wrote to his birth mom? And tell all of the "mamas" at the orphanage, Daniil/Joey sends his love!
Mary Stolz
Meridith, I would think that your new daughter probably will need pedisure, lots more tasty than baby formula and what I had Mercede on at that age. She weighted around 18 pounds. She also couldn't eat solids due to some stricture issues at the time. So this is a big "hint" for anyone living close to you!! lol
ReplyDeleteI don't have any questions, just wanted to say we are so excited about you and Mike coming home and the two new kids. I haven't seen Kristopher or Brianna since you left. Maybe when Mike gets home I can watch them some to help him out till you get home. Those mice of yours sure are stinky, but doing fine. Hang in there. You'll be home before too long.
ReplyDeleteI picked up another baby journal for Micah like the one I got for Emma. Let me know if you need anything at all. Can't wait to see more pictures!
ReplyDeleteIf all goes as planned you will have your angels home before Easter.
Love,
Mom & Dad Cornish
I am so glad that things are 'looking up'! It has been a long hard journey for you already. Kramatorsk is a very special place for us! Our first son, Dillon Oleg, was adopted at Antoshka. The caretakers and director truly love their children.
ReplyDeleteYou sure will have your hands full!
Heidi Hartman
heidihartman@yahoo.com
One of my tutor students has a sibling with CP? and the mom is bringing you a rifton table and tray that will be a good size for Emma. I sub tomorrow. Will be available for Mike so he can unjet lag. Love, Mom
ReplyDeleteHello~We found your blog through our yahoo group. We adopted from Antoshka a year ago in December. Our boys were 3.11 yrs and 22 months; they are full bio siblings. We loved Antoshka and felt that everyone there truely cared about the children. We would highly recommend eating at Davinchi's restaurant and also at Charantono's pizza place (sp? on both). They were our favorite places to eat. Also, we really liked going to the large "street" market. It's huge and most of it in under domes so you're not quite so in the eliments. Please feel free to email us with any questions, etc. We're happy to share our experiences. Our youngest was very small for his age and not sitting up well and only belly crawled (much like your little Micah sounds like). Alex is now running everywhere and is a very healthy boy. He is still very small for his age and delayed some but he's catching up fast. Sorry this is getting quite long so we'd better go. We're VERY happy for you both and your four children. We'll pray for a good court experience. If possible, would we be able to send some pics via email to you of our two boys for you to show the orphanage? We have not been able to send any updates to them yet and would really love to do so. Maybe you or one of the other American families would be able to do this for us? If so, please email us. cncleighton@yahoo.com Thank you.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless~Crystal & Chris Leighton (Anthony & Alexander too!)
Mere-
ReplyDeleteI was going to return the doll house & try to get you a gift certificate, but I'm unable. I would still love to send it for your girls-- I think they'd love it. Sully even plays with ours. Also, would love to send you some little boy clothes for Micah. If you have any specific wants for him, please let me know.
Skylar's Momma
tschoonveld@hotmail.com